Guard for railway crossings



iiiis Q Feb. 19 1924.

F. J. SCHLUETER ET AL GUARD FOR RAiLwAY CROSSINGS Filed Oct 25. 1922 Patented Feb. 19, 1924.

@NITED WQFHC FRANK J. summers ANDMANUEL tomato, or nousron; TEXAS; sail) LOZANO SIGNOB or onn-rrr'rnor 111s RIGHT TO SAID SCHLUETER.

GUARD FOR- RAILWAY' CROSSINGS.

Application filed October 23, 1922. Serial No. 596,477. 7

To all whom it may concern v I Be it known that we, FRANK: J. SoHLUE- TER and MA UEL LOZANO, citizens of the 9 United States, residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State o'fuTexas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guards for Railway Crossings, of which the following is a specification. AK'

This invention relates to new and useful improvements ina guard for railway crosslngs.

1 One object of the invention is toprovide a f guard. adaptedto' be' placed at the crossing Another ob ect of the invention is to provide adevice of the character described which not only blocksthe roadway on each side 'ofthe railway track but which also serves as, a signal to warn travelers on the I roadway of the near approach ofa train toward the crossing.

With the aboveand otherobjectsfin view the invention has particular relation to certain novel features ofconstruction-{Opera-- -t1on and arrangement of parts, an example of which is given in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, -wherein I Figure 1 shows a plan view of thedevice.

' Figure 2 shows an enlargedfragmentary side elevation thereof.

Figure?) shows an enlarged tragme'ntary Figure 5 shows a partial planviewfthereof and "Figure 6 shows an enlarged plan view of a mounted in suitable bearings on the'railway guard arm. 7 In the drawings the numeral 1 designates the railway track as a whole whichis crossed A tion by means-of pressure springs 17, 17' which act against opposite sides of a plate 18 which is fixed to and upstands from the opposite sides of the railwaytrackare the gates or guards 4, 4cwhich arelp'ivoted to the respective side posts a, 4 as shown. One end of'these guards is designed toproject across the roadway, and their other ends carry the weights 5, 5 which normally; holdthe sage along theroadway 2. 1 V

Onopposite sides ofthe-crossingand loguards in elevated position-to cated at a suitable distance therefrom-j are the levers 6, 6*which are arranged on' suit- .able cross ties and pivoted thereto at their centers. The corresponding ends of these levers'are connected by wire cables 7, :7. Each shaft 3 has an upstanding arm 8 to which *the "respective cables are attached.

There is a lift arm 9, slidable in. vertical aligned'bearin'gscarried by each; post 3'. The upper end of this arm is'curved and .at-

tached to said curved endthere is a cable 10 which passes through a longslot 36 i in the arm 37 carried bythe wei ghted endof the guard 4;, and-the lowerend of the cablelO carries said weight 5. Each shaft 3 also'has' an arm- 11 fixed -thereto whose free end is connected to the lowerend 'of th'earm 9 permit pasoperate through-the arms 8 and ll to actuate theli'nk 12 which .in'turnwill lift the arm '9,-= and, this arm will operatewthrou'gh the nut 38 fixed to said cable, from the arm 37 into horizontal position across "the roadway 2, by gravity. When'theZc'abIe 7 is-released a mechanism which will now be described.

Outside of .each lever, there is rotatably tie, a shaft .15 having the; upstandingv arm 16 which is'normally-held in vertical posishaft 15; There. is a rod '19 which is slida- .80 c'ableflO' to 'lift' the weightif5 and as said 7 :cable 10 moves upwardly it will release the 1 of the guard. 4, allowing the guard to move ble through a bearing in the adjacent endof thelever Ganfd this rod has'the fixed collars 20 and 21 spaced apart thereon. One end of thisrod is connected to the arm 16 through 5 a link22.; Adjacent the railway raiL-i-on the inside, there is an upstanding lug 23-which i ix o; t eisha t a d wh e flpp end has an enlargedhead 24 provided with ;a

v and this pull will operate not only to pargroove to receive the flange of the wheels of the locomotive. When the locomotive is approaching a crossing the wheels will depress said lug, moving it toward the crossing thus partially rotating the shaft 15. This move ment will act through the arm 16 and the link 22 to move the collar of the rod 19 against the corresponding end of the lever 6 and said lever will operate to exert a pull on the cable 7 attached to the other end thereof,

tially rotate 'the shaft 3, to which said cable is connected, but will also operate to actuate the lever 6 at the opposite side of the cross ing which in turn will exerta pull on the other'cable7 resulting in a partial rotation of the other shaft 3. These operationswill occur practically simultaneously and the partial rotations of the shafts 3 will operate through the mechanism described to lift the weights 5 and permit said guards to fall horizontally across the roadway 2. The lug 23' will be depressed successivel'y 5 by the wheels of the train operating thereover, but the rod-'19'willmoveidly' and the arms 11, the 1ink '12 and the arm 9-being in straight alignment will hold the weight 5 elevated until the train has passed thecrossing. As the train isleaving-the crossing its wheels will of course depress the lug 23 on the op- I posite side of the-crossing in the reverse di- "rectron, that isaway from sald crossing.

- the lever 6 and reverse the levers, through the cables This will operate through themechanism described, to move the rod 19 in the'reverse of thes'haft 3 has a pinion 25"fixedthereon,

. in mesh with a similar pinion 26 fixed on the lower side of-thecircular platform 27. This platform is rotatable on a suitable stand 28'and has an arcuate slot'29 cut therethroughf The shaft 3 has an'upstand- 'ing lfixed arm30 which works through said slot andmounted on'the-platform 27 there is a manikin '31 to which a lever 32 is pivoted. There is a link 33 connecting the upper end of the arm 30 with one end of the arm 32 and the other end oflthis arm carries a disc-like stop signal'34, and'at night the manikin may also carry a lantern 35 if desired.

The signals are operated through similar mechanism, so only one has been described.

As the shafts are rocked 'back a-ndforth the "platfor-m"27 "will also turn back and forth and the signals 34 will be moved up and down to attract the attention ofthose approaching the crossing and warn them of the approaching train. V

WVhat we claim is 1. A device of the character described including a pivotally mounted road guard arranged alongside the railway track, means normally holding said guard in approximately vertical position, a mechanism connected to said means through which the same may be released to permit said guard to swing into 1 approximately horizontal position, said mechanism including a member arranged in position to be actuated by the-truck wheels passing along said track, and to thereby release said means to permit said guard to swing into said horizontal position, and a signal device in operative connection with and actuated by said mech anism. t t 7 2. A device of the character described including a pair of pivotally mounted road guards -mounted on opposite sides of a railway track, means normally holding said guards -in vertical position, a common mechanism operatively connected with said means and arranged" to be actuated by the wheels of'the trucks and passing along said track to permit said guards to swing into horizontal position, and a signal device arranged on'ea'ch side of said track and operatively connected with said mechanism and operated thereby simultaneously with the operation of-said guards.

3. A device of he character described including a pivotally mounted road guard arranged alongside a railway track," a weight connected to said guard and normally operating to hold the same in vertical position, a mechanism connected to said 7 weight and formed with a lug alongside the railway rail and adapted to be actuated by the truck wheels and to thereby operate said mechanism to lift said weightand permit said guard to swing intohorizontal position by gravity.

4. A device of the character described including a pivotally mounted road guard arranged alongside a railway track, a weight connected to said guard and adapted to hold the same in vertical position, a mechanism connected to said weight and'including lugs spaced apart and arranged alongside the railway rails, said lugs being arranged to be actuated by the truck wheels passing over-said track successively, the actuation of one lug toward the. other operating through said mechanism to lift said weight and permit said guard to swing into horizontal position, and the successive actuation of the other lug'inthereverse direction operating to releasesaid weight whereby thesame operates to'swing said guard into verticalposition.

5. A device of the character described, including a pivotally mounted road guard arranged alongside a railway track, means normally operating to hold said guard in elevated position, a mechanism connected to the guard and arranged to be actuated by the truck wheel to swing said guard into approximately horizontal position and a signal device operatively connected with and actuated by said mechanism, said signal device being mounted to rotate on a vertical axis, and includingan oscillating member connected to, and actuated by said mechanism.

6. A device of the character described, including a'pivotally mounted roadard, ar ranged alongside a railway trac means connected to said guard, and normally operating to hold the same in approximately vertical position, a mechanism connected to said guard and formed witha lug alongside the railway rail, and adapted to be actuated by the truck wheels, and thereby operate said mechanism to neutralize the influence of said means and permitsaid guard to swing into horizontal position by gravity;

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. V 1

FRANK J. SGHLUETER. MANUEL LOZANO. Witnesses:

E; V. HARDWAY, L. M. HACK. 

